American winged orbital launch vehicle. The AACB Class II launch vehicle was a fully reusable, two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle. Both stages would be lifting bodies and be powered by Lox/LH2 engines. The system would be operational by 1978 and place 9,100 kg of payload in orbit.

Two alternates were considered:

Alternate I was a vertical-takeoff vehicle, with both stages equipped with turbojet engines to assist in landing back at airfields. The orbiter retained the lifting-body shape of the Class I vehicle but was much larger since it had to carry internal tanks for the Lox/LH2 rocket propellants. Total mass vehicle mass at lift-off was 745,500 kg; development cost $ 3 billion; cost to operate per flight, $ 4 million

Alternate II was a horizontal takeoff vehicle. Cost would be $ 4 billion to develop. The gross mass would be 600,000 kg, with the first stage weighing 465,000 kg and the second stage 125,000 kg.

Winged In the beginning, nobody (except Jules Verne) thought anybody would be travelling to space and back in ballistic cannon balls. The only proper way for a space voyager to return to earth was at the controls of a real winged airplane. More...